Date: 9th September 2022 at 7:00pm
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Arsenal youngster Marquinhos has been praised by Martin Keown for his performance against FC Zurich in the Europa League opener.

THE LOWDOWN: ON A WINNING NOTE

Arsenal began the Europa League campaign on a winning note with a 2-1 win at FC Zurich on Thursday. One of the standout players was Marquinhos, who scored the opener and provided the assist for the winner.

The 19-year-old arrived at the Emirates in the summer but has been featuring for the U23s, where he has scored three goals in three appearances. Although he has been excellent for the youth side, he was able to announce himself to the whole Arsenal fan base with his eye-catching performance in the Group opener.

THE LATEST: PUNDIT’S PRAISE

Former Arsenal man Martin Keown, who was on BT Sport, was impressed with the Marquinhos’ effort on his debut and went on to compare him with former Academy graduates Bukayo Saka and Serge Gnabry following the full-time whistle on Thursday.

Marquinhos was superb in Switzerland as he scored the opening goal with a brilliantly-composed finish after some superb excellent build-up by Fabio Vieira and Eddie Nketiah. And he went on to provide the assist for the winner with a sumptuous cross in the second half.

“Some great performances on show, Marquinhos, he looks like a take-two of Saka, doesn’t he. Left-footed player, plays on that right wing. One assist, one goal, really, that’s a real plus for the manager because he can look upon him now and say, ‘okay, we can bring you in if we need him’,” he told BT Sport.

“He’s got a huge future ahead of him. He looked like a Gnabry-type player, short, stocky, really explosive pace. And he was very classy.”

THE VERDICT: GOOD REPORT

There has been a lot of excitement since his move to the Emirates and glad that he is becoming a part at the moment. Marquinhos has done his part to repay the belief of Mikel Arteta in him after watching him while playing for the U23s. So far so good, this is an excellent alternative since the club failed to bring in any winger in the summer.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have a shortage of left-footed wingers in the team and following his performance in Zurich, Arteta might be tempted to play him in the Premier League in the coming weeks.

 

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